HDP election bureau attacked in western Turkey

HDP election bureau attacked in western Turkey

YALOVA – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

Turkey's Kurdish problem-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) confronted a fresh attack when its election bureau building in the Altınova district of the western province of Yalova was attacked by armed gunmen early April 26.

There were no injuries, as the bureau was empty at the time of the attack. Three bullets hit the front window of the bureau where the pictures of the party’s candidates from the province running in the June 7 elections could be seen. Another bullet hit the window of a nearby shop which has no links to the bureau. The police have begun an investigation into the attack while the attackers have not yet been identified.

The HDP candidates from Yalova, Nizamettin Öztürk and Aynur Erbay, met with security officials over the incident.

Ahead of the upcoming June 7 elections, a number of election bureaus have been attacked across the country.

The HDP headquarters in Ankara was attacked on April 18, followed by a separate attack on the election bureau of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in Istanbul’s Sarıyer district on April 20.

On April 23, an unidentified assailant attacked the election bureau of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the southeastern province of Batman, killing the son of a former AKP deputy and injuring another.

Abit Nasıroğlu, the son of former AKP deputy Nezir Nasıroğlu, died in the attack while the injured person was hospitalized.

The provincial head of the AKP, Diyaeddin Uçar, claimed the attack was not politically motivated and rather it was a dispute over money.